


We'll Be Okay

by miseteshiningstar



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, au where kaito and shuichi escape, takes place at the end of chapter 4, you cant tell me saimota isnt canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:29:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22472584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miseteshiningstar/pseuds/miseteshiningstar
Summary: "Freedom?"He nods, not knowing what to say, and Kaito only grins at him."This is what I needed you to come with me for. It's our way to escape!"
Relationships: Momota Kaito/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 65





	We'll Be Okay

Kaito sighs, staring down the passage one last time. Their best bet getting out of here was by going through here, right? It doesn’t matter that Kaede tried to get everyone to try it together before, it doesn’t matter that they all failed miserably, it doesn’t matter that there’s seemingly no end to the tunnel, what matters is that he’s Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, and if anyone remaining can make it out of here, it’s probably him!

But, being honest, that’s not the only reason he wants to try to get out of here.

None of this is fair. He’s had to watch nine of his classmates--his  _ friends--  _ die all because of this sick game. Someone is forced to murder, the survivors have to find out who did it, and then they watch that person die right in front of them if they guess it right? And they’re all just supposed to move on as if nothing happened?

He’s tired of trying to keep everyone’s spirits up when he’s not sure he’ll be able to keep doing it the next day. And after today’s trial; after watching Gonta get killed after he was manipulated by Ouma; after watching him cry when he had no idea what he had done; Kaito decided enough was enough. Trying to escape would almost certainly mean death, but it doesn’t matter. He would’ve died in there if he stayed anyway. As long as he can find  _ some _ way out and bring a few others with him, his death won’t be in vain.

So, without telling anyone where he was, he decides to take on the tunnel alone.

* * *

_ Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! _

Shuichi barely glances at the door. Not like he could see between his tears, anyway.

_ Ding-dong! Ding-dong! _

He  _ really  _ doesn’t want to get up. Why would anyone want to see him this late at night? And after that trial…

He can’t help the tears that keep spilling out at the memory of having to send Gonta to his death.

_ Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!  _

_ Fine.  _ He’ll answer it. If someone wants to murder him right now maybe he deserves it.

He certainly wasn’t expecting to open the door to see Kaito, who all but barges into his room.  _ Aren’t you supposed to be sick? _

“Shui-! Whoa why are you crying?”

Shuichi opens his mouth to speak, but he’s immediately interrupted.

“Wait-wait- there’s a better time to ask. I need you to come with me right now.”

“I-it’s the middle of the night-”   
“I don’t care! Hurry!”

Shuichi doesn’t understand the panic and watches Kaito look around before grabbing his hand and dragging him out of his room. He only gets the chance to shut the door behind him before he finds himself being quickly dragged out of the dorms behind Kaito.

“What are you doing?!” He whispers. “Where are we going?!”

Kaito only responds with, “Maki Roll wouldn’t answer the door so I had to slide a note under it… Hopefully she’ll understand it and we’ll see her later…”   
_ We’ll what? A note? _ Shuichi is only more confused, but thankfully Kaito starts talking again.

“I’ll tell you when we get there, okay? Just trust me.”   
“Okay…”  _ But is it really necessary to still be pulling me by my hand? _

Shuichi lets himself be dragged through the courtyard and all the way down the manhole, but stops at the passage opening. “Please don’t tell me we’re going through here again. There’s no end to it…”

“That’s what you think! Run!”

“Huh?” He’s shoved forwards and trips almost instantly, before Kaito grabs his hand again and goes back to dragging him along.    
“Be careful!”

As they run through the traps in the passage, Shuichi struggles to keep up. Every time he can’t see something that’s about to hit him, Kaito will pull him forward or push him back to miss it, and it raises a few questions.

“How did you see that?” He winds up asking after being pulled off of a disappearing platform.

“This makes the third time I’ve been through here successfully. You’ve gotta memorize where these things are, Shuichi!” Kaito flashes him a reassuring smile, and he nearly trips.

_ He’s already been through the whole thing before? _

* * *

When they finally make it through the passage, tired and out of breath, they’re staring at an open door and a demolished city outside.

“I don’t understand…” Shuichi whispers.

“It’s the exit.”

“But there’s nothing there…?”

“There is, you just have t-”

But suddenly Shuichi can’t breathe. If this is the only way out… why is it like this? Why can’t he breathe? He collapses, trying to use as little energy as he can.

“Oh come on!” Kaito groans. “How are you gonna be my sidekick if you fall out at the first opportunity?”

Shuichi can tell he’s trying to help, but it doesn’t stop him from shouting back. “There’s no oxygen! There’s nothing here!”

“Yes there is! Take a deep breath and hold it!”

He does as he’s told, in spite of himself, and Kaito pulls him up by his forearm. He lets himself be dragged out again, despite everything in him telling him to turn around.

Kaito doesn’t speak again, so Shuichi assumes he’s holding his breath too. It wouldn’t make sense for him to ask any of the burning questions in his mind, but does he really need to? He trusts Kaito… He wouldn’t willingly put Shuichi in harm’s way, right? So he’ll do as he’s told.

But soon they’re still in the rubble of the destroyed city and Shuichi starts to feel like he’s going to black out from holding his breath so long. He drops to the ground again, trying to get something, anything, but he can’t breathe. It feels like he’s drowning. 

Kaito turns around and gives a small “hm?” before Shuichi gestures to show that he can’t breathe.

Looking up, he sees Kaito’s eyes widen in concern before he turns around and kneels. “Get on my back.”

_ Huh?  _ Shuichi is hesitant at first out of fear that he'll become more of a burden or make Kaito feel worse than he already does, but… He doesn't want to die and soon he's up with his arms around Kaito's neck and they're back on the move. Surely this would look weird to anyone who might see, but Shuichi feels safe here, so he only concerns himself with staying alive and holding on. 

A few more minutes pass before Shuichi is told he can really breathe again. To his disbelief he…  _ can? _ He glances up and  _ is that sky? _

_ "Huh?!"  _ He shouts a bit louder than he intended to and jumps down. He's still standing in rubble but further ahead he notices the ground progresses from smashed cement to gravel, and then grass, and the sky above him shifts from a hazy distorted mess to purple clouds and a comforting dark blue that he once was used to. "Is this-" 

"Freedom?" 

He nods, not knowing what to say, and Kaito only grins at him. 

"This is what I needed you to come with me for. It's our way to escape!" 

_ But is it?  _ Shuichi turns and looks back, staring at the destroyed remains that seem to go on forever.  _ What if this was set up? What if the mastermind knew we would try to get out and placed all of that there to discourage us from leaving? But then why was the door put there in the first place? If they wanted to keep everyone from getting out why would they even have a d- _

"Yo, Shuichi." 

Snapped back to reality, he turns back to face Kaito, who's still standing a bit too close. 

"Let's just get out of here and  _ then  _ we can think about what just happened, okay? One step at a time."

Shuichi can only nod before going back to quietly following Kaito again. He really did know him better than he knew himself… 

The walk is uneventful, to say the least. Not knowing just  _ where _ they were stopping only added to Shuichi's anxieties. What if there really was nothing past this? Would they keep walking forever? All they seemed to be walking through was a blank field. No trees, no plants, no birds (or maybe he just wasn't looking hard enough.) What if they changed directions and ended up turning around and going right back? What if they were really on a deserted island? And his memories… What if no one else was there? It was almost like being lost at sea. 

But, eventually, they do see  _ some  _ form of civilization in the distance. A city, maybe? He can't tell. But the load off is greatly welcomed when Kaito decides to rest by a lake leading into the city.  _ Maybe this is where they get their water…  _

"So, are you dead yet?" Kaito asks as Shuichi sits down in the grass next to him. 

"Thankfully only on the inside." Shuichi forces a laugh, although thankful that he can slightly relax now. But, something's been bothering him ever since Kaito showed up at his door. "Can I ask you something?" 

"Yeah, sure." 

"How did you know how to get out of there? And the door… How did you get it open?" 

"What, you think I'm the mastermind or something?" Kaito shoots him a look he can't quite understand. 

"No, no!" Shuichi visibly tenses. "I just want to know how you did it…" 

"Calm down, calm down. It wasn't that hard, actually. During the investigation I went to Miu's lab and found  _ this!"  _ Kaito pulls a pink grenade-shaped object out of his coat pocket and waves it at Shuichi. 

Oddly enough, the logo on it reminds him of the Monokubs. "Is that a bomb?!" 

"Nope! I think her notes said it was an  _ Electrobomb?  _ There were a few sitting out so I took one in case you needed it during the trial but I ended up keeping it. And it came in pretty handy with that door!" 

"What does it do?" Shuichi asks. "Can I see it?" He takes the Electrobomb and turns it over in his hands while Kaito explains. 

"It's supposed to scramble electronic signals or something for two hours. The door wouldn't open no matter what I did to it so I gave it a shot and here we are." He finishes with a flourish. 

But that doesn't explain everything. "How were you able to get to the end of the tunnel in the first place? We were never able to when there were sixteen of us… And I thought you were sick! You coughed up blood! We thought you were going to die!" 

Kaito, in an effort to calm Shuichi down, ignores that last part. "Determination! We just weren't motivated enough in the beginning!" 

Shuichi doesn't believe a word of it. "Then  _ why _ did you do it?" 

"Oh. I just wanted to get out." Kaito sighs, leaning back. "I'm tired of seeing the same thing happen over and over again. I was going to die in there, Shuichi! I haven't even been to space yet! That's no way to live, being manipulated by everyone around you until someone suddenly snaps. What good comes from that? And, honestly… I was afraid that someday soon I was gonna find you dead somewhere…"

Him? Dead? Kaito was  _ afraid _ of that? But the possibility is more likely than Shuichi would like to admit… "Me? Wouldn't it be easier to kill someone like Himiko?" 

"Yeah, but you're always the one who puts us back on the right path and finds the killer in the end, right? That makes you a bigger target." 

"You're starting to sound like Maki…" 

"But I'm serious! And you know you can't have a hero without his sidekick! So I had to go get you too."

"I feel like part of that is just you not wanting to be alone…" 

"Call it what you will!" Kaito stands up abruptly. "What matters is that we're both here, right now, and we're no longer a part of the killing game. We can leave, we can go back to our normal lives!" 

"But can we really…?" 

"Hmm?" 

Shuichi gestures vaguely. "We don't even know where we are… What about our families? Where are we going to go? None of this is normal living to me…" 

"Then we'll make it normal! I'm pretty scared too, but it's better than dying in there, isn't it? We've gotta start somewhere." 

"You're right, but-" He jumps when Kaito suddenly grabs his hand and pulls him to his feet. 

"You've got me! And I've got you! And we've both been through the same shit, right?" 

"Yeah…" 

"So it'll be okay! It'll be an adjustment at first, but…" He trails off, not sure of what to say. "... If we could survive that it should be the least of our worries if we don't know where we're going to sleep tonight!"

Shuichi steps back. "We?" 

"Yeah? Did you think I was going to get you out of there and ditch you the second we got out?" 

"A little bit."

"Shuichi! You know I wouldn't do that!" 

Kaito lets go of his hand to walk away, but something in Shuichi makes him immediately reach out and grab Kaito's arm. 

"What?" 

Shuichi only sighs and quietly lowers his hand until he's gently holding Kaito's in his. He can't bear to look up to see his reaction, and he doesn't want to admit it, but something about this makes him feel grounded. Standing here with him… it makes him feel safe. "Can we just… stay like this for a second?" 

"Yeah, sure." He can't tell what Kaito is thinking, or what face he's making, and maybe it's better if he doesn't look up. 

They stand in silence for a few minutes until Shuichi gives, and suddenly his eyes well up and he can't stop the tears from falling. Everything he had been holding in since Kaede's trial comes pouring out all at once, and he has to let go of Kaito's hand to wipe away the tears threatening to fall from his face. 

He wants to curl in on himself, or maybe even just die in a hole somewhere. There was no reason for him to be here, he shouldn't still be alive and out of that godforsaken cage--

\--But then he feels a pair of arms wrap around him and everything starts to seem a little bit calmer. 

"You're going to be okay." Kaito whispers, as if knowing what's going on in Shuichi's mind. "You're going to be okay." 

And in that moment, safer than he's ever been before, he feels like he might just be. 


End file.
